Stephanie
This series was recommended to me by several people, so I already had it in mind that it was going to be good. Though the story was interesting from the start, sometimes I think Clare's snappy comebacks between Clary and Jace got in the way of telling that story. The writing definite picked up about midway through the book and by the end she had me simultaneously angry, intrigued, and wanting the next book immediately. The last 100 pages definitely earned those 5 stars for me!
A lot better than her first attempt, this follows the second half of Callie's freshmen semester. I'm still rooting for Gregory, because it's in my nature to root for the underdog. I'm glad she hammered out some of the more juvenile writing that was present in the first book. Though the characters still seem decidedly immature (and that may be a function of them being freshmen and me not being able to relate because I did not act like that when I was a freshmen in college), I sort of love their hijinks. And like I said in my review for the first book in this series, these characters really are some unique people!
A very quick read. This book has a cast of a crazy, quirky, unforgettable characters similar to the Ivy League novels by Diana Peterfreund. Where Peterfreund excels at story telling and writing, I was left underwhelmed by Kunze's childish writing. At times it was amusing and absolutely fit the scene and at other times I had to remind myself that these characters were supposed to be college students and not extras from Pretty Little Liars. With all those critiques I was still amused by the story and loved how out of control her characters were. I'm hoping in the next book (because apparently I'll be reading it) that the characters not only find their voice, but they begin to act their age too.
A very nicely written book, especially for someone like me who has desperately tried to act like an extrovert the majority of my life. There are some good hints in here for maximizing potential that explained things I did already but explained why I did them. For example, why after socializing for a weekend I feel like I've been hit by a bus. Socializing with people literally sucks the energy right out of me. Some parts did get slightly preachy, and she does speak about introversion and extroversion dynamics as if those are the only two qualities that can harm a relationship, but overall it was a good read. I highly recommend it for anyone who has ever had to defend their right to be alone to their friends.
Super quick read. Its not the best book ever written as is the case with the majority of Evanovich's books, but this was entertaining enough. I love Diesel and Lizzy as characters and look forward yo reading their next adventure. And by the way, can we please find a loop hole in this if they get together their powers disappear law? Those two need some action!
I read this for a lot of reasons, but the one that jumps into mind at this moment is that I wanted to prepare myself for my therapy practicum and when I think of what therapy means to me and who I would want to be my teacher I think of Yalom. This book did not disappoint. I like how open Yalom is about his experience as a psychotherapist and how the therapeutic alliance is really the most important aspect of therapy. I'm sure that must be disheartening for those staunchly ingrained in their theoretical orientation in school. I don't know what else to say other than every psychology student should give this book a try.
I absolutely adore this series and I'm sad that this will be the last I will hear of the Mason's. I'm can't put into words how impressed I was with Mira Grant and how believable she could make the end of the world look. The Mason's story was heart breaking and I'm so glad she managed to let them have a happy ending without falling into the trap of making it sappy or unrealistic. This story is just fantastic and everyone should read it!
I am always so impressed when an author manages to be just clever enough that it keeps you guessing until the very end. I loved the pacing of this book, Tris' narration, the surprise ending, the finesse in which she handles grief and guilt, and especially ESPECIALLY Tris and Four's relationship. I usually hate the handling of relationships in young adult novels because it becomes so contrived and detracts from the story. In this case I think their relationship adds to the depth this novel has. I can't do this book justice in a review so just go get it!
Not a bad ending to the series but not a good one either. I found myself skimming through the sex scenes and searching for the plot within this book. I thought most of the events were far too predictable and in the end Ana and Christian weren't people I was rooting for. This wrapped up way too nicely in the end and it just left me wanting for more...something.
What a crazy book. All of the vignettes throughout the book got a little boring after a while. It made me yearn for an actual plot than just a glimpse into the mind of a scary, rich psycho. I don't know if this book lived up to all the hype surrounding it. Yes, it was unnecessarily gory and demeaning towards women...but does being a sensationalist make you cult material? I'm not convinced.
Having read both Glamorama and The Rules of Attraction, I have to say Ellis does have the gift of throwing the reader off balance and keeping the reader thinking. I applaud him for not dumbing down his material for the layman. But I'm just not a fan of this book. Next time I need a dose of crazy I'll turn on my TV and leave this book alone.
Well. This was interesting. I don't quite know how to describe what I just read. This is my first book I've read from Breat Easton Ellis. Previously I've seen both Rules of Attraction and American Psycho so I had a clue of what I was getting into. Except this book kind of blew my mind in the worst and best ways.
Victor Ward is a completely inept, male model living in New York City who gets mixed up with the wrong crowd and his whole world kind of caves in. That's what I KNOW the book was about. Everything else is pure speculation and there were so many elements that were unexplainable. Like the film crews and the confetti and the people who were who they seemed to be.
I read a couple of reviews that said everything resolves itself in the end. Well if that's the case I must be stupider than I realized because nothing seems resolved to me. Is Victor crazy? Was all of that cooked up by his drug addled mind? Who is that other Victor Ward masquerading as him? Is this some Fight Club nonsense where none of this has actually happened?
Either way, it was a great read. I'm satisfied with not knowing how anything I just read makes sense. It seems like I have some more Ellis books to read :)
This definitely had a slower start. I was expecting after the first book that it would jump back into the action which was not the case. I was about 1/3 of the way into the book before I actually got interested and once I did the characters and story didn't disappoint. This books i definitely more adult than some young adult books I have read.